It was a dark overcast night and cold. The street was quiet; not much traffic, pedestrians or cars. The lone man walked down the street a cigarette hanging from his lips. He kept to the shadows. Suddenly a stranger stepped in front of him just as he reached the entrance to an alley between two houses.

"Gotta light, mac?" he said, holding up a cigarette between his fingers.

"Da," he said sounding a bit startled as he dug into his pocket for his lighter.

Then he felt the icy cold tickle of a wire tighten around his throat. Too late, he tried to get his fingers under it. He felt himself being dragged backward into the alley. Then, as he stared at the face of the man who asked for a light, he realized that this would be the last thing he ever see again.

This was to become the worst and most dangerous case for Detective John Robichaud and his partner, Pete Duncan. They would need all their energy and resolve to deal with the brutality this new villain brought to their city and would bring one of them to the brink of death.